Second Sunday after Trinity
[Rev. Iain Taylor in Eastbridge Upper Chapel Canterbury, 3rd July 2011]
Salvation has come to this house today: Luke 19.1
‘Superintendent of Taxes’. What a dignified title: to us it suggests a lady or gentleman from the Inland Revenue, probably clad in a smart dark suit, with just a slight aura of...what? Not menace, of course, but the uneasy feeling that there might be some error somewhere in our accounts. Nothing illegal, naturally, but the lady or gentleman wants an explanation about a certain figure shown as ‘expenses’ for which there appears to be no receipt.
Zaccheus the taxman was quite different.
Tax-collecting in his time was a rough and dirty business, a Mafia-like racket in which only the thick-skinned, the tough, the greedy, were successful. And Zaccheus was the ‘Superintendent’ – his job was to spy on the other tax collectors; he has his little mob of informers, he kept the top men sweet with his ‘Slush fund’.
Other Jews saw him as an unclean quisling, sold out to the occupying power; the Romans probably viewed him with disgust, a bootlicker, a convenience, tolerated but contemptible.
So what was he doing up a tree, looking for the arrival of this new religious preacher? And looking surprisingly foolish, a hot little man that nobody liked.
How did Jesus know his name?
Jesus obviously knew him by sight, and knew his name. It has been suggested by the scholars that Zaccheus was one of the ‘large company’ of tax collectors who were at the ‘farewell feast’ given by Matthew, the tax collector turned apostle. If so, at this occasion, Jesus must have entered into serious conversation with some, if not all, the tax people there; probably talked things over with Zaccheus, and therefore sowed the seed of the dramatic action which we heard about in tonight’s reading. This seems a very suitable and very possible way of accounting for their mutual recognition, and also for the change of heart on the part of Zaccheus.
In those lands and times, to share someone’s hospitality was a sign of great trust. Jesus was accepting him – Zaccheus, the tax collector, the crook, the unlovable little shyster – there was no wonder a rising tide of murmurs and grumbles from the crowd.
So amazed and astonished is Zaccheus at the honour that his whole attitude is transformed. He pours out his burbling offer to give half his goods to the poor, and to repay anyone he has cheated four times the amount. This could be promise hard to keep, but we cannot doubt the sincerity. Here is what the gospel message means by repentance – something that involves a changing of the mind, a new outlook on the present and on the future.
Here, I feel, we are being reminded of Jesus’ insistence in Mark 10.15 that we must receive the Kingdom of Heaven ‘like a child’. Zaccheus accepts the Kingdom through Jesus’ acceptance of him, he receives it as a child receives a gift. When a child receives a gift his eyes light up. There is no attempt to calculate whether it has been observed; the wrapping paper is ripped away and the joy and gratitude are effusive. Now watch an adult receive a gift, especially one that is unexpected. The eyes narrow: What have I done to deserve this? Or: What is expected from me in return?
Zaccheus does, of course, promise restitution any new behaviour, but these are outpourings of thanksgiving, not any effort to merit what has been given him. Acceptance and forgiveness are acts of hope and faith. Jesus has offered himself. Nothing is actually required in return; yet, forgiven much, Zaccheus can now forgive. He is now released from the anxiety of greed, from the lust for possession, not only of enough but of far more than enough (which, incidentally, is the breeding-ground for so much of the economic injustice and warfare of today’s world). He is also free now to use money in an uncalculating way. This is the point of his extravagant offer to the poor and to any he has defrauded.
In our lives we see such caring and forgiveness offered imperfectly, sometimes as little more than masks for other people’s need to try to manipulate and control. Yet in the forgiveness and acceptance of people like Zaccheus the disciples glimpsed a power that could heal and reform lives.
Here is the power of the Kingdom; through such healings the new age was heralded, and in Jesus’ ministry the ruling power of God was disclosed. Jesus did more than just talk of God’s readiness to forgive and accept; he personally acted, offering his own presence and acceptance as a sign of God’s acceptance.
One of the clearest impressions that emerges from the Gospels is that Jesus was out among the outcasts, extending the possibility of the Kingdom to individuals whom many thought unworthy of it. ‘Why does he eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?, his opponents ask. This was a major scandal of his ministry, that could also surprise and upset his disciples: and it is why Jesus continued to be seen as a champion of the disadvantaged and as a liberator of the oppressed. These acts cost Jesus popular support, at least among certain groups, and in the end cost him his very life.
I have heard it said that life is what happens to us while we are making our plan for it. That is exactly what happened so suddenly to Zaccheus on the day salvation came to his house. He had climbed up into a tree in order to get a clear view of Jesus; then Jesus called to him, ‘Hurry, come down, for I must stay at your house today!’
We can learn about our own relationship with God from this story of Zaccheus. Jesus is always looking at what we are doing or thinking, and his voice speaks to us and calls us. Sometimes we seek him out, as Zaccheus did and he meets us halfway, perhaps quietly and alone, or perhaps publicly and in view of the whole community.
Let us remember there are many ways we may come to God, and many ways in which he comes to us and calls us. Jesus said to Zaccheus, ‘Come down, for I must stay at you house TODAY’ He wasn’t making an appointment for some time in the future, or even tomorrow, but THIS VERY DAY.
The one important word here is TODAY; we must be ready to obey the Lord’s call the moment it comes and not make excuses for putting it off.
Let us always be ready to recognise and make the most of his approaches and his invitations in whichever form he chooses for each one of us, his cherished children.
When we respond to his approaches and accept his invitations, then and only then will God’s salvation come into our lives and transform them for good.